For a decade ending in 2018, a clapboard-sided building at the corner of Route 32 and Madeline Lane in Rosendale was operated as a restaurant, bar and alt/rock “micro-venue” known as Market Market Café. In 2010, The New York Times profiled the place as “a magnet for the Brooklyn exiles” who were already migrating to the mid-Hudson Valley. But for five years now, this former hipster hot spot has been sitting empty, awaiting new use for its highly visible location.
That fallow period is about to end: Renowned musician/bandleader Debbie Lan and two partners have acquired the building and are in the process of transforming it into a multipurpose community events space, to be known as The Muse: A Hive for the Arts. An Open House was held there on Saturday, December 16, with the intent of introducing locals to what’s in store.
“It probably won’t be open until March, but we wanted to let the community know who we are and what our intentions are,” said Lan. “Our mission is to provide a safe, affordable space for the arts community.” On her list of potential uses, based on feedback from that community, are rehearsals, performances, dance, yoga, tai chi, open-mic and singer/songwriter nights, play readings, game nights and lectures, among others.
A spread of hors d’oeuvres was laid out by members of Lan’s vocal ensemble Bloom; musicians affiliated with two others, the B-2s and Perennial, performed live sets. Lan – artistic director for the project – gave a talk about her vision for the space. Managing director Carine Elen explained the renovations to the physical plant that are already underway and showed drawings of additional planned construction. Operations manager Kathy Flannery was also on hand to welcome visitors. In one corner stood a tall, decorated Yule tree, on loan from Kalleco Nursery in Tillson.
“We bought the building in October,” Lan told HV1. “I run four adult voice ensembles who mostly perform outdoors. We were trying to figure out where we could be over the winter that would be a big enough space. I was looking for something for us – a small, intimate listening room. We were renting space, but it gets very expensive.” Noting that several other local options such as Rosenspace and the Rosendale Café had closed in the past few years, she said the need was clear for a space that the musical community could use to congregate, rehearse, give classes and perform for small audiences. Given the concerns about virus transmission that dominated public gatherings during COVID, it was also important that such a space be well-ventilated, Lan added.
The timely availability of the former Market Market – and before that, Springtown Greengrocers – was a serendipitous fluke, according to Elen. A Manhattan-based coffee company called Mudd, LLC had bought the building from Market Market’s Trippy Thompson and Jenifer Constantine in March 2022, with the intent of turning it into a “half-restaurant, half-coffee-roasting facility. But their shops in New York City expanded exponentially, and it quickly became clear that the roasting machines they were planning to install were not going to meet the demand. So, they went a size up, and then found that the machines were not going to fit in the building.”
The Mudd folks had already done “70 percent of the heavy lifting” of renovating the structure before they decided to pull out of their Rosendale satellite project, Elen explained. They added a sump pump, dried out the basement and installed R30 insulation. New bathrooms, including one that’s wheelchair-accessible, are already in place. The Muse’s new owners are continuing the improvements, adding new HVAC units and a Molekule air purifier with triple HEPA filtration that can do four air changes per hour for 2,200 square feet: double the needs of The Muse’s 1,028-square-foot main room. An old restaurant fan in the peak of the high beamed ceiling will be replaced by a window to enhance natural light, and some new fans will be installed.
One room on the south side of the building is currently being converted into an office and storage space. In one corner of the main room, a small prep kitchen will be installed, with a sink, oven, cooktop and under-counter refrigerator to enable catered events. The half-wall dividing it from the performance/rehearsal area is already studded out. A staircase nearby leading to the basement will be covered with a hydraulic trapdoor to maximize floor space. Lan expects that dance groups and yoga and tai chi teachers will be among The Muse’s regular clients, so making the room dance-friendly by installing new wood-panel flooring with a rubber layer is a high priority. “The floor was the first thing,” she said.
The walls of the main room, hallways and bathrooms will eventually be covered with wainscoting to match the rustic look of the building’s exterior. Temporary acoustic improvements to the stage area consist of burlap panels on the walls, where art can be displayed, and modular burlap-covered dividers will be added to adjust the room’s acoustics to suit different musical ensembles’ needs. Two stage lights have already been added to the ceiling beams, and more are planned in the future.
The exterior of the building also needs work, including motion-detector lights to enhance visibility. The parking lot in particular – sloped, and partially covered with crumbling asphalt – is slated to be regraded, leveled and repaved.
Where will the money for all these improvements come from? Lan was gifted some seed money to help purchase the building and launch the project, and she plans to apply for not-for-profit status so that The Muse can seek grant funding. In the meantime, she wants to hear from potential business sponsors and private donors at debbie@themuserosendale.org – as well as from artists who have ideas on how to use the space. “It’s important to start with who the community is and what their needs are,” she said. “I want to make it as affordable as possible, to serve as many people as possible.”
Lan and Elen both expressed confidence about community need and demand for such a space to be available for rentals. “It’s a much-sought-after commodity to have rehearsal spaces here,” Elen averred.
Lan said that she had already received inquiries from people wanting to host “a singing workshop, violin classes, a slow jam, a queer performance night, an improv company, some bands…” And turnout was lively on the day of the Open House. “So many people showed up in support today – I was blown away. I keep pinching myself that we’re here, that we have this opportunity. I’ve fantasizing about something like this for years.”
Join the family! 
